Days 7-10 of the H & M adventures

Well, much has transpired since you last heard the tales of the valiant H&M. Our heroines have been hard at work, conquering the world. Sort of. On Friday and Saturday, their adventures took them apart, so their stories will be told separately to begin...

Friday:

Miranda listened to Steve Douglass speak about adversity. He is pretty cool.

Then there was a rad guy who did spoken word interlaced with scripture. (http://www.oneveryword.com/) His talk was set to some really excellent pictures. Two thoughts: a) she wishes she could take pictures like that. b) she needs to memorize more of the Word. Later, she had lunch with her new Oshkosh staff team (they are going to have so much fun together!) and she had some sweet quiet time with her roomie, Steph. Good thing they will be hanging out so close in Oshkosh and Green Bay. That night, she went to hear comedian, Tim Hawkins...her face and sides hurt from laughing (wish you could have been there amy). please see timhawkins.net for a few snippets of amusement.

Holly's day looked a little different...she took the kids on a trek to City Park, which is about a mile from the apartment. That doesn't seem that far...until you do it with two little Asian girls in a stroller, a medium sized white boy on his scooter, and attempt it at the hottest part of the day in higher altitude than you are used to. Let's just say that Heather Dawn came and picked them all up on the way home. That night, Kiana and Noah went to see Tim Hawkins, and Holly gained a new little charge in the form of Maggie Zaugg. She played with the girls and tucked them in bed, then spent the rest of the night reading, writing, and playing Mario Kart.

Saturday:

Miranda started her day with coffee with Bethany (interned at the same time, then joined staff together last summer) in Old Town. She hearts her, even when Bethany's husband gives Miranda the Heisman to the head. She spent a little quiet time alone and worked on the super secret project for a bit, then headed over to regional family time. She had to leave for a little while to go to a LAME rehearsal for all the new staff: they had to learn how to walk across the stage. Ugh. She went back for the regional picnic, got to see Alicia Penning, Jim and Jacquie Tanner, and lots of other randos (that's for you, Nate). Miranda went to the evening session where she had to sit in a special section for all the new staff. Lame again. Good thing she likes all of her

new staff friends. Steve Douglass spoke about how it could be possible to fulfill the Great Commission in our lifetimes...then she had to look like a total loser and walk across the stage. Thankfully, she didn't trip. She will grudgingly admit that it was kind of cool to see the 350 some new staff that have joined in the past two years. She then moved down and stole Mark and Kristi Gauthier (head of campus ministry)'s seats for the 10th Avenue North concert. Though they all looked 15, they are apparently as old as she is. They have a cool back story and relationship with Crusade and are pretty amazing in concert. She will gladly play their cd for you.

Holly woke up to the smell of pancakes wafting through the apartment. She bummed around with the kids while Rich, Heather, and Kiana went over to campus. Rachel and Sarah Naylor came over to play with Noah, Annie, and Kiana. Later, they all made a mad dash for Taco Bell, where Jen came to pick up her girls. Holly enjoyed a lovely lunch of minor meltdowns by multiple

children...by the time they got back to the apartment, everyone was ready for a nap, including Heather and Holly. Kiana left for her food fight somewhere in there and came back smelling like chocolate and oatmeal. Yum. Not. Getting up from her nap and still not feeling great, Holly

convinced herself that the best thing she could do would be to fight every fiber of her being and keep to her training schedule...and go for her 10 mile run. She hated every second of it. There was not a moment where it seemed like a good idea. It made her want to die. She came back and sat on the couch, where Kiana gave her water and food. After showering, she felt a little better. Susan came and took Kiana and Noah to campus so they could go to the concert, while Holly laid on the couch and watched Swiss Family Robinson. After the Dundores made it back, Holly and Heather Dawn had some super sweet girl talk. It was a little bit of heaven. They looked a little goofy as Holly iced her knees and Heather iced her neck. Super cool, as always.

Sunday:

After missing each other terribly for two whole days, the girls found their way back together. Paul and Becca picked them up for church (love those Baptists!). They then drove to Denver, where they met Cathy and Michael at the Breckenridge Brewery for lunch. Holly had an excellent oatmeal stout with her fish and chips...it was sort of like being in Wisconsin again. Miranda had a really good sandwich that probably tasted terrible because it had turkey on it. Holly wasn't jealous at all.

They proceeded to the Rockies/Giants baseball game, where they met up with Lindsay (Cuddlebear) and Matty Mitchell (aka your sanctuary safe fireworks friends)!

They had a really fun time watching the Rockies beat the Giants and observing a whole group of people almost get kicked out of the game for having a flask. Holly somehow became friends with multiple people in this group...thankfully, Chad only had to go to detox and wasn't going to have any charges pressed against him. Whew. Miranda narrowly avoided getting beaten up for being a Red Wings fan. (Boo to the Avalanche!) Holly waited impatiently for most of the game to get a Squishy...which is really just a frozen strawberry lemonade...but as soon as she found out it was called a Squishy, she HAD to have one. (You will be my Squishy, and I will call you Squishy, and you will be mine.)

When she finally got one, it dripped all over the place. Thankfully, a kind mother behind the group handed over some baby wipes. Becca, Lindsay, Miranda, and Holly all rode back to Becca's together for some quality project girl time. The combination of worship music, good lovin', and Holly playing with her hair caused Lindsay to start crying. (Goal accomplished...look out, Ashley and Erin...we're headed your way...) They had an excellent dinner of burgers and brats at the Jonez house, then played two rousing games of Settlers...one win for Matty, one win for Holly...only a few feelings got hurt in the process.

Holly made sure to give Sharpie tattoos to all the girls. It was a great night of laughter and being immersed in Town Project Bubble.

Monday, so far:

Miranda started the day with a talk by Keith Battle, who referenced Miracle. Even though he didn't show that scene, she could still feel the pain of the Herbies after the Norway game. (If you don't understand, please go watch the movie. You should probably watch it with Miranda anyway.) Holly brought the young hooligans to campus to watch The Witnesses. Dundore children live and breathe musical things. After it was over, Heather made Holly abandon the children and go for her run (only 4 miles...not as terrible...still not her favorite thing to do anymore). While Holly was running, Miranda had lunch and quiet time. She then picked up some Starbucks for herself and Holly (because Miranda is such a good roommate) and headed over to the apartment to work on the super secret project and the days and days of updates that you have been missing. Miranda has another session tonight, then Aaron Ruder is coming back to play with them! (Since Amy was confused about what makes Ruder so special, please feel free to call or write with any questions you may have.)

Thus concludes the latest installment of the H&M adventures. Tune in soon for more exciting tales of daring sword fights, far-off places, a prince in disguise...wait...that's Beauty and the Beast...um...never mind. Tune in soon for more stories about two Wisconsin girls out of their element in the big bad Colorado mountains.